2008 SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD PANNING CHAMPIONSHIPS

2 October to 5 October 2008, Pilgrims Rest,  Mpumalanga Province

Once again the South African Gold Panning Association will be joining forces with the Pilgrim’s Rest Museum and Mpumalanga’s Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation (DCSR) to present the annual South African Open Gold Panning Championships from 2 to 5 October.

The event will take place at the gold panning competition site, near the Joubert Bridge, at Pilgrim’s Rest.

The contest promises to be as heated and exciting as ever with competitors from several other countries also participating in the event.

The event programme includes a colourful Street Parade followed by the Official Opening ceremony on Thursday 2 October.

The ever popular Wheelbarrow race and Diggers Pub Crawl to take place on the 3^rd, followed by a Gold Panners function on the 4^th of October.

On Sunday the 5^th, after the last thrilling final, the Prize Giving and Closing Ceremony will conclude the event.

Any person or team can participate in the championships as provision has been made for beginners categories and there are special competitions for children under 10 years as well as pre-schoolers.

For the winners in each category there are great prizes including air tickets for the overall top three to represent South Africa at the 2009 World Gold Panning Championships to be held in Italy.

Gold panning is supported and practiced by people from all races, genders and ages and is not expensive to get into as little equipment is needed and no special physical attributes are required other than enthusiasm and passion.

Since it’s beginning, SAGPA has made it its goal to develop the S. A. Open Championships to meet with the requirements of the World Gold Panning Association’s rules and competition standards to ensure fair competition.

Each competitor receives a regulation gold pan and a bucket of sand in which a number of gold nuggets are hidden.

The winner will have panned out the most nuggets in the shortest time.

The number of nuggets in the buckets of sand is only known to the Chief Judge and participants are penalised for lost nuggets.

Provision is made for proficient and novice participants divided into categories according to age and gender.

Please note that the organisers will provide traditional “Eastwing “gold pans to competitors that do not have their own pans.

Training sessions will be available for beginners and practice pan dams are at the competition site.

Rules will be explained to beginners and plenty of advice is usually freely available from those who have participated before.

For spectators there will be food and beverage stalls at the competition site and an opportunity to get caught up in the Gold Fever of the competition.

Registrations for the competition will close on Thursday, 2 October, at 16:00

For more information and registration forms please contact René Reinders:

Telephone: (013) 768-1471

Fax: (013) 768-1469

Cellular Telephone: 084 7557807

e-mail: ireinders@mpg.gov.za

The number of participants at the S.A. National championships has grown from 78 in 1997 to 707 competitors in 2006.

Over the past 10 years S.A.G.P.A and the DCSR have succeeded in making it possible for more than 80 South Africans of all ages, genders and races to attend World Championships in Europe, Australia and Japan.

Although South Africa is the youngest member of the World Gold Panning Association’s 20 member countries, South African gold panning has over the last decade become a prominent part of the international gold panning fraternity.

The 2005 World Gold Panning Championships, hosted by South Africa at Pilgrim’s Rest, was widely acknowledged by the international gold panning fraternity to have been a resounding success and a benchmark event.